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Greek jobless still increasing

Published:Friday | September 13, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Protesters chant slogans during a rally organised by Greece's main public-sector union, ADEDY, in central Athens, on Thursday, August 29, 2013. Hundreds of state employees took part in the rally and held a four-hour work stoppage to protest planned mandatory public-sector employee transfers and suspensions as part of the government's harsh austerity drive. - AP

ATHENS (AP):

Unemployment continues to rise in recession-hit Greece, with the overall rate reaching 27.9 per cent in June. Even worse, 58.8 per cent of people under age 25 are out of work, according to new figures announced yesterday.

The Greek Statistical Authority reported that the jobless rate had risen from 24.6 per cent the previous year. In June 2008, before the global financial crisis had kicked off and Greece entered recession, the rate stood at 7.3 per cent.

The jobless total stood at just over 1.4 million. In addition, around 3.33 million people in Greece are considered inactive, just shy of the 3.63 million in work.

Years of emergency taxes, pay cuts, and other austerity measures implemented as a condition of international bailout loans, have hammered Greece's private sector.

harsh austerIty DRIVE

The conservative-led government has promised to bring Greece out of recession, but unions have launched a new wave of protests against the state staff cuts, arguing that unemployment is already too high.

High-school teaching unions and workers at Greece's largest pension insurer, IKA, are planning to start rolling strikes next week.